


Tears in Heaven, Fears in Hell

by miridelaney



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Other, Tears and Fears March
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-31
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-04-16 01:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14154153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miridelaney/pseuds/miridelaney
Summary: Death is a part of life, but one doesn't expect to watch someone so young pass to the other world, and certainly not in such a horrid fashion, in the middle of a war in a school. How do others react to this, how do they feel? And what's more, what are they going to do next?Life goes on, but will it ever be close to the same again?





	1. Tears and Fears

**Author's Note:**

> “No – no – no!” someone was shouting. “No! Fred! No!”  
> And Percy was shaking his brother, and Ron was kneeling beside them, and Fred’s eyes stared without seeing, the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face.”
> 
> (this is from the book, and where the story begins)

Percy had only JUST come back into the family, apologizing for what he’d done, not thinking they would take him back with all that had happened, or at least not without question.

But they had, in true Weasley fashion. 

And then… The explosion changed everything inside of his mind. 

He could still hear it, even now, the solid boom of the walls caving in, the screams, Fred’s laughter. And then suddenly, it felt like he was in some kind of sound tunnel. Everything went quiet; and then, just as suddenly, it became louder than ever before, as Percy shouted, “ROOKWOOD!” 

And then to the tall and lanky ginger haired wizard, everything was both still and changing all at once… 

Screaming, shouting… 

Crying… 

***Minutes later***

Percy, having had helped someone of whom he wasn’t even sure at this moment in time or how they arrived to their new location, set his brother’s body on the stretcher in the Great Hall. At first Percy had shaken him to try to get him to wake, but was now just standing there, looking at him, watching, silent tears falling from the corners of both of his eyes. He wanted to scream, wanted to cry out, wanted to go back in time so badly that he wished more than anything ever before in his life, that he could fix what he realized now, that HE had partly caused. 

The rift in the family, the reason why certain things had happened in his recent past, the fact that he hadn’t been there for his family in the last over a year, that was all his fault, and he hated it, he hated himself for it. 

He stood in the Great Hall wishing he could change it all. His younger brother lay there, dead. George and Ron sobbing over his body, their mother, the strong and brave Molly Weasley at her late son’s side. And as bad as Percy wanted to cry out, wanted to scream, there was so much more to his feelings, so much more to what was going through his mind than just the sole feeling of grief for his brother, grief for his family as he had known it for the whole of his life. 

Grief that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. 

There was the grief, yes, but there was more too. Revenge. Percy wanted to revenge his brother and he would do anything he could to share his grief, with the one man who’d ruined it all. He’d ruined the happiness of Percy’s entire family and Percy wasn’t going to take it. 

Rookwood. 

And Percy left the room, silently slinking away, his eyes red, face blotchy… 

***

Hermione watched him leave, and a part of her wanted to follow, to see if there was anything she could do, but she didn’t dare. There was something about the look in his eyes that scared even brave Hermione Granger. And so she turned to the other Weasley family members, glancing first to Molly. 

Strong, stoic woman that she was, brave, kind, loving. There was never a moment that Hermione had seen her that she wasn’t taking care of someone else in some way, shape or form. And she was doing just that right now as well. Hermione was shocked that she wasn’t crying herself, as her remaining children were, and took a step closer to the woman, in an effort to try to show her that they weren’t alone, but stopped when Molly’s body language changed. 

Molly had always been a mother bear, protective, brave, loving, and Hermione knew that her body language was changing now, because someone was trying to get into her family’s space. So Hermione took a few steps back, and turned to look at the others, watching around her, trying to see if there was anything she could do. But Ron and George were huddled over Fred, sobbing into his body. Ginny clung to her father, Arthur, silent tears streaming down her face. And Bill and Charlie stood nearby, stoic and silent, grieving in their own silent ways. Hermione shook her head and turned around, they needed time, they needed space, later on, perhaps, she’d make them some tea, for now, they needed to grieve in peace. 

Someone else tried to walk over towards them and she shot them such a glare that they’d walked away too, and Hermione stood there, protectively of the family, keeping them able to grieve alone, for as long as she could. 

Hermione stood, watching over them, when she spotted Harry again, and then she saw the bodies of Tonks and Lupin, and she held back a strangled cry. First Fred and then them? This was all too much… 

Hermione sat down right where she stood, on the dirty floor of the Great Hall. 

***

Tears still fell from Ron’s eyes, as he gripped tightly to his older brother Fred’s now dirty jacket that he’d been so proud of when he’d bought it with money that he and George had made from their Joke Shop. “NO!” Ron screamed out, grief attacking him worse and worse as the time fell passed them. “FRED!” Ron added to his screams, and Molly gently brushed her youngest son’s ginger hair back from his face in an attempt to soothe him. 

Ron, though he was grieving in such an outward way, was not the one who was worst off in this. George, Fred’s twin brother, hadn’t stopped crying since he’d seen his brother had been killed. His face was married with more tears than George had ever thought he would see in his life, not to mention to come from him. He was pale, shaking, and the only colours that he wore now, felt like the ginger of his hair and the red of his eyes, tears still falling harder than ever before. George hadn’t spoken, hadn’t made a move to step away from his brother either, and he had no plans of leaving him either. 

Fred and George had been together their whole lives, and even now, with Fred lying there, prone, in front of him, George couldn’t bare to leave him. Ron’s cries were both making George cry harder, and making him want to shove his youngest brother off of Fred at the same time. But he wouldn’t dare. 

He couldn’t do it. 

But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to...

George’s tears fell harder and harder, but still he hadn’t spoken, his thoughts ran through their life, everything they’d seen, everything they’d done, and then it just stopped. It stopped like Fred’s heart. 

And suddenly George stopped crying. 

Anger gripped him almost as much as the grief had done. 

And he pushed Ron off of Fred, and lay down next to his brother, gripping onto him tightly. He was never going to be able to do this again. He wasn’t sure if he would ever be able to do anything again. 

He had never before thought he would ever live without his brother, his twin, his other half, and now… 

Now he would either have to do that, or just up and die himself…

Molly held Ron tightly, unsure even in her own motherly mind, how to deal with what was going on in front of her. Ron was upset, clearly grieving, but George… It was like he was more lost than any of the others. Molly hadn’t spoken, hadn’t cried, hadn’t done anything but held her children. 

Suddenly she couldn’t do anything else. 

She watched as George lay next to Fred and it hit her how much of an impact this was going to have on him. 

And Molly Ginevra Prewett Weasley was afraid. Actually and genuinely afraid. 

“Arthur.” she said, pushing Ron towards him and Ginny, and moving quickly to George, their red haired mother lay down beside her son, reaching around him, and despite George fighting back from the embrace, she held tight. “Don’t you even THINK of leaving me too young man, don’t you even THINK it.” she whispered into his ears so that only George could hear. 

She had been silent this whole time, because she had also watched her own brothers die, and she refused to lose both her twins as her parents had lost theirs. But now she knew she had to step in, because if she didn’t, soon she may be in worse shape than she already was. That soon, they ALL might be in worse shape. 

“Fred…” George whimpered to his mother, and finally stopped fighting his mother’s embrace. 

“I… I know…” Molly told him. “I… I know…” They were both shaking now, both in grief, one in fear of watching history happen all over again. 

Both not knowing how they were going to get passed this. 

One knowing that they had no choice BUT to get passed this. 

Somehow.


	2. Revenge of the Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU April, Percy is going after revenge. Rookwood has killed Fred and Percy has gone mad, going crazy, wanting to kill the man who murdered his brother!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for AU April <3

Meanwhile, Percy searched for Rookwood, anger rising higher and higher. If anyone who knew him saw him at this point, they would wonder if it was possible for his red hair to become an angrier shade of red, or if they were imagining it.   
Percy looked and he looked for the man that had done the worst thing possible to him, to his family. That villain had killed Fred. Had broken his family into millions of tiny pieces that Percy now very badly wanted to fix. He vowed to himself that he would do anything to right this wrong. Anything. Even if that meant him dying too, though he knew that wouldn’t help his family, so he’d do anything he could to make that NOT happen.

He knew that his father would have tried to dissuade Percy, pointing out that it would make him just as bad as Rookwood. Perhaps in calmer moments Percy might have agreed, but he was blinded by towering rage and grief.

“ROOKWOOD!” Percy shouted, anger filled his whole frame, and he shook in such anger that he’d never seen before. “ROOKWOOD!” Percy screamed again as something shifted in his vision. “COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!” he shouted again, shaking in his anger, needing revenge on his brother’s death more than he needed his next breath. As each minute passed, his anger mounted. 

Higher and higher it went too…

“COME OUT, COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!” Percy shouted again, bellowing louder and louder, and older wizards may have been put in mind of other red-haired wizards of legend, berserkers blinded by their holy magic-given right to wash away the wrongs of the world with the lifeblood of those who wronged them. But he didn’t care. He needed to find Rookwood. He needed to do to him, what he did to Fred. 

Percy wanted revenge. Period.

He didn’t care what he had to do in order to get it. He knew his family would hate him for trying this, as much as they would love him for doing it. But Percy was doing this for them as much as he was doing it for himself. 

He didn’t even care if they put him in Azkaban for it. 

If it was up to him, he would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban, if that meant he had avenged his brother’s death. 

“COME OUT COME OUT WHEREVER YOU ARE!” Percy shouted again. “LET ME SEE YOUR FACE ROOKWOOD! LET ME SEE THE FACE OF THE MAN WHO KILLED MY BROTHER!” he shouted some more. He was started to believe that he was crazy himself. Rational Percy wasn’t wanted for this mission, sanity could piss right off.. 

 

What mattered most was finding Rookwood. 

KILLING Rookwood. 

***** 

When movement in the corner of Percy’s eye caught his attention, he turned towards it quicker than a compass needle seeking the north pole, and shouted. “AH HA! THERE YOU ARE!” he went on, shouting even louder still. “COME OUT ROOKWOOD! YOU BLOODY ARSE! YOU BLOODY GIT! YOU BLOODY SWINE!” 

“BOMBARDA MAXIMA!” Percy shouted, pointing his wand towards the bush, blowing it up, leaving Rookwood exposed out in the open. “There you are! We have unfinished business, Rookwood, you BLOODY COWARD!” he shouted, wand still trained on his target, and Percy shouted again, “EVERTE STATUM!” which sent Rookwood flying backwards into the cement wall behind him, hitting his head on it at the same time. 

Part of Percy, the OLD Percy, was still hiding out in the back of his mind, jibbering over all the legalities of his current actions, and what might happen next. Old Percy wondered why the Death Eater wasn't fighting back, but new Percy was out for Blood. It was time to pull Rookwood's teeth right out of his mouth. “EXPELLIARMOUS! ACCIO WAND!” just to be safe. Rookwood’s wand flew from his hand into Percy’s, while Percy’s own wand was still pointed towards the now defenseless Rookwood. 

For a moment, the assassin didn’t move, and Percy wondered if he’d actually killed the swine, when his head hit the wall. Percy could only hope, eager for this to be over so that he could get back to his family… 

Moments later, Rookwood moaned and his eyes opened back up again, realizing that he no longer had his wand, and screamed in horror. Percy wasn’t planning on letting up, despite feeling both lightheaded and tired. “FLIPENDO TRIA!” pushed Rookwood back violently, and Percy heard his head bounce on the wall with a dull thunk. 

Percy watched. 

He watched and waited, wondering if the other would wake up, part of him hoping that he wouldn’t wake up, just so that he could be over with it, that his brother’s murder was avenged. But then another part of him wanted the assassin to wake up, he wanted to be able to torture him, like Percy and his family now were, without Fred. 

And it was because of the man lying there in front of him…

Percy stared at the man wishing him dead, but also wishing so badly to torture him, like Percy himself felt…. 

“Damnit, Damnit Fred!” Percy whimpered both angrily and sadly. He missed his brother already. 

Nothing took the red haired wizard’s eye’s off his brother’s assassin, he stared a long while, trying to decide what to do if he didn’t wake up, and what to do if he did… and when the killer’s eyes opened Percy found himself getting more and more angry than ever before. The assassin who’d killed his brother, was awake again, and Percy roared in pain and anger. He was again, failing at his job of being a big brother. 

This was killing him, a little bit at a time, and all he wanted was to stop the assassin, even if that meant he killed someone. 

To Percy, it would be worth it. “They’ll understand… Mum and Dad will be proud of me, Fred will be able to rest, and Ron and the others… They’ll feel better, when I’ve brought Rookwood to justice…” Percy mumbled under his breath, pointing his mouth in the shape of a small o. 

To avenge Fred… 

“LANGLOCK!” Percy bellowed, gluing the assassin’s tongue to the roof of his mouth. Last thing Percy wanted was for Rookwood to use a wandless spell… “INCARCEROUS!” he shouted next, tying him up next, with strong ropes that bound the swine tightly. 

Now there was no way Rookwood could fight back, at least, Percy didn’t think he would be able to, and he was glad for this, wanting so badly to make things change here, to show Rookwood what he had done, to show him that he was never going to do this again to any family. 

Ever again.

“Now. You’re tied up, silent, and at my mercy…” Percy said, his hands shaking in anger, his wand still out, pointing right at Rookwood’s face.

But then… 

Percy, wand still raised at Rookwood’s face, stopped dead in his tracks, and realized something. There was more to revenge than just inducing a quick pain to the other wizard. He could do more than merely crush his head like a blueberry. 

He could make that pain last… 

He should make the pains his family suffered, fall on to Rookwood, amplified tenfold… 

The question was… Did Percy want to actually kill this man himself? Or did he want to give him a pain worse than death, for what he did. Because even if he literally stood there and tortured him, nothing was going to help his family, or him to feel better. 

Nothing. 

“I could call the dementors, I could. I could let them kiss your sorry arse and suck your soul out the wrong way! Should I do that? Eh?” Percy said to Rookwood, eyes glaring in his direction. “Or would you rather I do it myself?” 

When Rookwood didn’t answer, Percy started getting more and more angry. “So you have no desire in this?” Percy taunted. “Do you want a kiss from the dementors? Or would you rather I kill you myself?” he asked again, his whole frame trembling in anger. 

Rookwood didn’t move, he didn’t do a thing, and Percy glared harder. “So you WANT me to kill you instead of a kiss from the Dementors is that it? Cry for mercy, worm.”   
But Rookwood never answered, and Percy glared at him harder. “What will it be? Call the authorities, or a swift death here and now?” The red haired, and very angry wizard asked the man who had killed his brother. 

There was still no answer from Rookwood. 

“What? Cat got your tongue?” Percy asked him again. 

Still no answer from Rookwood, nothing more than a glare at Percy, and Percy just smiled back, maniacally. “Guess you don’t care how you die then, is that it?” Percy asked, rage building up inside his heart and mind, getting even more angry at the man who’d murdered his brother in cold blood. 

The glare from Rookwood got angrier, and Percy realized that in a blind rage, he had actually magically glued Rookwood’s tongue to the roof of his mouth so as not to do any wandless magic… 

Percy thought a moment, weighing his options, trying to decide how to proceed from here on out. 

“I’ll call for the Aurors, and they can decide what happens to you.” Percy said shortly. Glaring at the murderer of his brother wasn’t enough, but as Percy stood there, seeped in anger, he didn’t think even killing this man would help him or his family to feel better. 

Percy held up Rookwood’s wand, at him, and used his own to send a message quickly to the Auror Office, and despite his desire to kill this swine in front of him, he wanted even more to watch him be in pain, and that could be done with the Dementor’s Kiss. 

Aurors appeared out of nowhere, and took hold of Rookwood, taking him away, Percy assumed, to Azkaban, and left Percy there, alone. 

Now that the adrenaline rush and anger was receding, Percy dropped down to the ground, and cried...


	3. I'm Sorry...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy has so much to be sorry for, but what is his biggest regret?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for May - "I'm Sorry"

Percy looked at his parents, a look of absolute pain on his face. He hated that he’d gotten so mad, that he would do something like go after another wizard, even the one who killed his brother. 

“Perce…” Molly said to him, calmly. “Come ‘ere…” She held her arms out for him, and Percy walked right into his mother’s arms. 

Arthur looked on, before moving closer to his wife and son, enveloping them both into a hug. “Percy, I’m proud of you for following your heart, son, and even moreso, I’m proud of you for realizing that killing wasn’t going to bring…” Arthur stopped, and bit down on his lower lip, as a tear fell from the corner of his right eye. “You found Rookwood, you sent for the Aurors, and surely he’ll get the kiss, and Perce, YOU did that… It can’t bring back… It can’t bring back what we’ve lost, but knowing that he’s not out there anymore will be something that will help us all sleep better at night…” 

Percy felt both of his parents hugging him, but that didn’t help him feel any better still. It hurt, it hurt a lot, not having his brother alive, not having his brother with him, with them all. What made it even worse for him was that he’d lost out on so much time when he found himself believing the Ministry and not his family, or Harry… 

He’d given up on his family, on the one set of people he should have been trusting the whole time… 

And he’d given up on them, sent them up the river, so to speak, and he hated himself for it. He hated himself more than he ever wished to hate anything or anyone in his whole life.

“I… I’m… I’m sorry… I’m really, really sorry…” the red haired wizard whimpered into his parent’s hugs as tears fell softly, silently, from the corners of his eyes. Percy never thought of himself as someone to whimper or cry, but this was a very special circumstance, one he never would wish upon anyone, not even his greatest enemies… 

Well, no, he would wish this pain on Rookwood… On people like Rookwood, who took the lives of others, of innocents, for no good reason. For them, Percy Weasley would wish pain worse than this...  
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Percy, nothing.” Molly told her son.   
“Your mother is right, you have nothing to be sorry about.” Arthur added, hugging Percy tighter. 

“I… I… I can’t NOT be sorry….” Percy said to them, his whole self trembling, feeling worse and worse as the whole thing went on. “I… I can’t… I ruined it….” 

Molly shook her head. “You didn’t. That is something I promise. You didn’t ruin anything….” she said to him, nodding, trying to focus on him. 

“I… I did… I… I nearly… I….” Percy knew his parents should know what actually had gone through his head, but he was having such a hard time trying to explain what he’d done. 

What he nearly had done… 

“I know…” Molly told him, holding her son tighter. “I know how it feels, and how anger can come from nowhere… How revenge can take over…” Arthur nodded as his wife spoke to their son. “I took out revenge too, but what I did was very different to what you did, and I am proud of you for calling the Aurors instead of doing it yourself.”   
“Really?” Percy asked her.   
“Really.” Molly answered. “That takes courage to do what you did. Real courage.”

“But… But Mum… I…” Percy started, but Molly put her finger on his mouth to stop him from talking about it anymore, at least for now. 

“Not now, save it for later, save it for after his trial, after he most likely will either get the kiss or a life-long stint in Azkaban for what he did…” Arthur said to him Molly nodded and smiled at him, thankful that he could understand where she was trying to go with all this, because at this point, Molly was getting all worked up again, her heart thumping in her chest. Arthur went on, “Let’s all take leave of here and get a cuppa, I think that would be a good idea for the three of us, perhaps we can go back to the Burrow for it? To the others?” 

Molly nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea… You agree, Percy?” 

Percy nodded his head, still silent, but agreeing with his parents. He wanted to tell them that it wasn’t just the mess with Rookwood that he was sorry about, he wanted to tell them everything, but he found one thing in his attempt to force his voice to work. 

It was going to do no such thing… 

Percy was sorry for nearly killing a man, he was sorry that the man had killed his brother, but most of all, he was sorry that he had missed out on time with his loving family when he was such a stupid little boy to believe in the ministry… 

His parents were trying to help him to feel better, they were trying their best, but Percy couldn’t help it.

He still felt sorry...


	4. “Will You Marry Me”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Molly in the present time is hugging her son and husband, but she's thinking about two specific times in her past, the first, when she did something much like (and worse than) her son Percy had done. And the second, was when, in her upset and anger, her Arthur asked her to be his, forever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for June - "Will You Marry Me"

The whole thing made me even more upset. It made me remember what I’d wanted, and well, what I’d tried so hard, and managed to do years and years before. And as I stood there, holding my son, feeling Percy’s heartbeat, feeling his breaths on my neck as I held him tightly, I couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened when I too had wanted revenge so badly that I’d done something that not even my husband knew about to this day.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly as I remembered back to the day I found out that my brothers were killed, murdered, by death eaters. And how I had followed one, unsure if it was THE one who had killed the brothers that I loved more than life itself, and I killed him. 

I was still young, but I no longer had the trace on me, even then, and so the Ministry of Magic had no idea I’d done it, but to avenge my twin brothers I’d have done it in a heartbeat either way. The man was masked, and in a dark cloak, and so I had followed him. I didn’t care, in the moment, if something happened to me, as long as I killed him. 

As long as I had taken care of him, and had saved other families the same fate as mine had unknowingly picked up, I didn’t care.

“AVADA KEDAVRA!” I shouted, moving my wand to the exact same way that my professors at school and all of the books I had read, had described this killing curse to go. And he fell, his head hit the ground and my anger didn’t dissipate, it only grew, the heat inside of me raised, and I started to sweat, just standing there. 

I knew I’d killed him, and I should have felt better, but I didn’t feel any better at all. Nothing felt good inside of me, and I was both angry and upset, hurt and sick, and even though I tried to stop it, I still doubled over and got sick, right there on the ground in front of me. 

I opened my eyes for only a moment, and then I closed them again. The memory of my wand work that day, the dead body in front of me, changed, and it was Arthur there, my love, the love of my life...

Arthur looked at me , and I couldn’t help but grin widely, despite feeling so broken inside. “I love you… I love you so much…” I said to him, moving closer to him, hoping that it would be possible that he could be able to take away all the pain I was feeling. For I truly was feeling so much pain… 

I was feeling more pain than I ever had before. The loss was so great, the loss of her brothers was just too much for her. It was too much for the whole family...

“Arthur… Please… Take me away from here… Take me away from this pain… My family, it’s… broken and… I…” I whispered to him, leaning into him even closer. 

He wrapped his arms all around me, and enveloped me into his loving frame. When he told me he would, I looked up at him and smiled as best as I could do, before tears fell from the corners of my eyes. “R… Really?” I asked him, as he let go of me, and went down to one knee. 

My eyes widened, and my mouth dropped. “A…” I started, unable to finish even his name, before he spoke. 

“Molly Ginevra Prewett, will you marry me?” Arthur asked, holding up a box, and opening it to reveal the prettiest ring I had ever seen… 

“Oh Arthur… I… Yes… Yes, I’ll marry you…” I said, still crying, but this time it wasn’t just for the pain of missing my late brothers… 

Don’t get me wrong, I missed them, of course, but this felt good. Just knowing that Arthur had my back, forever and always, this was something that I needed, that I needed right at this moment in time more than ever before. 

If Fabian and Gideon knew what had just happened, I knew, they would be jumping up and down and cheering for me, for us. I knew how much my brothers loved Arthur too, how they loved how he made me so happy and to be fair, how much they loved Arthur’s little love of Muggles. I say little, but it was not little at all 

If only I knew what it would turn into… If only we all knew what it would turn into...

I opened my eyes and sighed softly, looking at Arthur, he had no idea that I had just watched what I had watched in my own memory. The fact that I’d killed that Death Eater, the moment he’d asked me to marry him…. And I mouthed to him, “I love you…” 

Arthur nodded back to me and mouthed back, “I love you more.” 

I nodded and smiled, holding my husband and son closer still, kissing the top of Percy’s head.

Even now, holding my son in my arms, I knew that my brothers would be proud of me, proud of my Percy, and they would have welcomed my Fred into their arms, and they would show him the way to be an angel… 

“One day, Perce, I’ll tell you a story, of your mother, and her own acts similar to yours, but that is not for today. Not for now…” I said to him softly, kissing the top of his head again. What was important here was that Percy knew he wasn’t alone, and that regardless of what happened, we would always love him. 

And that would never change. 

Never. 

“But for now, Perce, how about we go home, let’s go have that cuppa with the others, spend time with the family… Just, be together…” I said, and Arthur nodded in agreement. 

“Yes, I think that’s a good idea, Molls.” he agreed, out loud, and we both looked at our third son, to try to gage his thoughts on that. 

Percy nodded his head as well, and I held him closer for a moment, and then we apparated back home, to the Burrow...


	5. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Percy wants to find out why his mother said what she said to him after his incident with the murderer of his younger brother. And here he learns about something in his mother's past, that nobody else knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FOR JULY - “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS?”

“Mum…” Percy said, turning towards his mother. 

“Yes, Perce?” she answered him. 

“Last week, when… well, when you said you… What did you do to make you say that you did something like what I did?” Percy asked, chewing nervously on his lower lip as he looked at her. 

“Perce…” Molly said softly, her sigh punctuating the end of the nickname she generally used for her third son. “Are you… well, are you sure you’re ready to hear it?” she asked him. 

Percy nodded his head, looking at his mother clean in her eyes with his own semi glassy ones. “Please Mum… Tell me…” he asked, practically begging for an answer to what he was feeling, begging for a reason to not feel so alone, begging for answers of all kinds. 

Molly took in a deep breath and closed her eyes a moment to try to put her mind right. “Percy, it’s… it’s not a good story, it’s… it’s not what you’d expect from me, are you sure you’re ready?” she asked, trying to be sure that her son was ready for this. 

Because if he wasn’t, and she told him, she wasn’t sure she could ever fix this… 

“Mum, I need to hear it… Please… For me?” Percy asked. 

“Alright, just… Perce, I just hope you don’t think any worse of me, after I tell you…” Molly said, as she poured herself a cuppa. “Would you like one too?” she asked him, trying to be sure that at least there was something calming for them, if they needed it. 

“Alright.” was Percy’s quick answer, it was anything he could do to get his answers…

Molly poured him one too, and then sat down beside her son. “Alright, if you’re sure that you’re ready for this…” She looked around them to be sure the younger kids weren’t around. Sure, Percy was an adult now, but he was still her baby boy. “Okay, well, you know that your uncles, my brothers, Fabian and Gideon were killed, right?” She asked him. 

Percy nodded his head and kept watching his mother, more particularly her eyes. “Yes, Mum…” he wasn’t sure where she was going with this, but he knew better than to say more than he already had. 

“They were killed by Death Eaters… When I found out…” Molly started, taking in a slow, deep breath, letting it out even slower to try to calm down her quivering lips and trembling words. She couldn’t bare to look at Percy, she didn’t know if she wanted to see the pain in his eyes. “When I found out, I… I chased one. I’m not sure if it was the one who murdered my brothers or if it was another, but…” Molly was starting to shake harder than she had been before, but she tried hard to calm herself down as best as she could. She paused again to take in another deep breath and she found herself looking right into her son’s eyes. 

They were filled with fear and confusion, as she’d expected, and she turned her eyes down to look at her tea. “Perce, I chased him down cobbled streets, my wand outstretched, and I saw red, I was so angry, I had so much hatred for this man, for all of the Death Eaters…” Molly went on, biting down on her lower lip again, this time harder than the last, this time, drawing blood. 

“I…” Percy mumbled, unsure if he was supposed to say anything or not. But the look on his mother’s face, the words he heard her say, Percy was beginning to understand what she was trying to tell him, and that scared him half to death… “Mum… Y… You can tell me…” he whispered, trying to keep his voice calm and even.

“I… I no longer had the trace on me, so nobody had known it was me, your father doesn’t even know… Nor your grandparents…” Molly said. “He was masked, and wearing a dark black cloak, I didn’t care who he was, I didn’t care if he was THE one or not… And… And I used an Unforgivable…” 

“You… You… You what?” Percy interrupted, his face now paler than she had ever seen it. 

“I… I killed him, Percy. I killed a Death Eater, because he MIGHT have been the one to kill my brothers.” Molly whispered, biting down on her lower lip even harder now, her tea sat forgotten on the table in front of her. “I…” Molly managed to get one word out, before stopping, pausing and trying to take a breath in and out before attempting to start talking again. “I… I called upon my anger and I remembered everything that I’d read about the three unforgiveables and… And I was so mad that his pain wasn’t going to be enough for me… That I needed to do more than just inflict pain on him, because he had done much more than that for me, for my family, even if he wasn’t THE one…” she went on, her whole body trembling now, bringing up all the memories that she never wanted to see or feel again… 

“I shouted two words, two terrifying words that I never would have thought I would be angry enough to ever use…” Molly said softly to him. 

“Did you…?” Percy asked. 

“Yes…” Molly answered. “I… I shouted the killing curse at him, with my wand raised, and he fell. When he fell, his head hit the ground and my anger didn’t dissipate, it only grew. I was so mad, I was sweating, just standing there, staring at him… I knew that I had done it, I had killed him.” 

Molly paused a second and then started to move on again. “I thought I should have felt better, because I’d killed him. But I didn’t… Perce, I felt angrier, I felt upset, and I felt sick to my stomach.” she said, biting down hard on her lower lip, feeling her chest tighten again as it had on that day, as she re-lived it as she told the story to her son. “I got sick, Perce, right on the ground ahead of me.” Molly went on, trying hard to calm herself down at this point, but she was shaking quite badly now, despite trying her best to keep calm. 

“Mum…” Percy whispered. “M… Maybe we should… g… get you some fresh air…” he suggested, his own voice shaking too alongside his own trembling body. “I… I think maybe… Maybe that’s… a…. a good idea…” he suggested a second time, starting to wonder to himself if maybe that was what he needed to, because even though Percy wasn’t there in that time, he was there now, re-living it through his mother’s tale, and knowing now why she was so strong, and even more, so proud of him, of all of his siblings, and even moreso, why and how she was able to have so much love, so much desire to protect her own, and any she felt the need and desire to call her own. 

Even if they weren’t. 

“I… I…” Molly said to him, trembling. “M… maybe…” Molly hated feeling so weak in general, however, in front of her son, it made her feel even worse. “I…” Molly was stammering now, and that wasn’t exactly something that she liked. 

And Percy didn’t like it either. 

“Mum… Come, let’s… let’s get some air…” Percy said to her, fearfully, scared that he’d asked his mother to re-live what had happened to her, and that it was because of him, that she was feeling the way she was. “Please…” the red haired wizard begged his mother. 

Molly nodded and completely forgetting her tea on the table, she stood up and moved, as if she was in water, trying to walk through it, unable to breathe, towards the back door of the Burrow. 

Percy followed his mother and when he reached her, he took his trembling hands, and set one of them on his mother’s back, as he led her out the door to the yard, and towards the bench he himself had made, with his father’s muggle tools, when he was small. It wasn’t pretty, but to him, he didn’t think that it had to be. 

At least not back then… 

“I… I loved that… that you made this…” Molly whispered to him, as he sat her down on the bench. 

“I know…” Percy said, trying to keep his voice calm and even, despite feeling like he was going to faint. “Sit, please…” 

Molly sat down on the bench, and put her head in her hands. “I… I did it, Perce… I did it, for revenge…” she whispered, her red hair falling over her shoulders as her hair fell over her hands. 

“I know…” Percy whispered, finding a whole new level of respect for his mother that he never had before. “And I love you even more for knowing this…” he whispered to her ear, moving his head to hers and kissing her on the top of her head. “I love you, Mum.” 

Molly looked up, and stared at her son, shock on her face. “Y… You do?” She almost didn’t believe it, but she wanted to believe it so badly… 

“I do.” Percy answered, lifting her chin up with his hands. “I’ve always known you were a strong woman, Mum, but I never knew HOW strong you were until right now… I… I’m really proud of YOU, and, and I understand why you’re so proud of me, of all of us, and why you can love us, how you can protect us the way you do, even people like Harry and Hermione, who aren’t even yours… Mum… It’s because you had so much hate and now… Now you want to replace that hate with love… Never stop, okay? And… And I… I’m going to show you I can do the same thing…” Percy said, tears now streaming down his face.

The tears that were streaming down both of their faces, meshed and Molly looked up at her son, pride in her eyes as she looked at him. “Yes, yes Perce, that’s why I can’t let anything happen to my family, and yes, Harry and Hermione too. They are as much my children as you all are, and I will protect all of you, forever and always…” 

Percy nodded his head in understanding, as Ginny walked out of the Burrow, a faraway look on her face. “Gin?” Percy asked, but Ginny kept on walking, towards them, silently. 

Molly and Percy both wiped the tears off their faces, as she came closer. 

“H… H… He’s… He’s gone…” Ginny whimpered, tears falling from her eyes too now, seeing theirs still not dried on their faces. 

“Yes…” Percy said to her, knowing that she’d meant Fred, and he held out his arms for his little sister, determined to show his mother that he could be just like her. 

Strong, and brave, and protective.

Because that was just what a Weasley was.


	6. "Angst"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Weasley's have lost one of their own. How do they react? What do they do for each other?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For August Angst

Percy held out his arms for his baby sister, and Ginny curled into his arms, sobbing now. “It’s okay, Gin… We’re here… Mum and I, we’re right here… You can cry, you’re safe. I promise.” Percy told her, as Molly looked on, moving closer to her children, wrapping her arms around the both of them. 

Percy was hoping that his mother was proud of him still, and that he could manage to keep it up, and stay strong himself, even as he was breaking apart inside. 

“It’s alright, both of you, Mum is here, I’ve got you both, forever and always.” Molly said to them. 

Percy nodded, firstly because he knew his mum was going to be there for them through everything, and for always, but also because he wanted to help his little sister to feel better. Ginny felt both her brother and Mum hugging her and she looked up at them, her small frame was shaking, her eyes nearly as red as her hair from crying. 

“I… I miss him!” Ginny cried out to them, her small fists were balled up now, her nails digging into the palms of her hands in an effort to try to make that pain stop the pain inside of her heart. 

“I know Ginny…” Percy said quietly to her. “We all do, and it’s okay to miss him, but Gin, he may have passed away, but he’s always with us, and he always will be…” he said to his little sister, glancing at his mother’s face to try to read what she was thinking before he said or did anything else. 

“Ginny, Percy’s right, just because we can’t hug him anymore, doesn’t mean that he’s not still with us…” Molly said, her voice cracking just a little bit, which made Percy look into his mother’s eyes. 

“But I WANT to hug him!” Ginny cried, feeling more like she was a little girl again, and not a teenager. 

“I know Gin, we all do…” Molly whispered, biting nervously on her lower lip. 

“Mum’s right, we all do, but we have to try to be strong, okay? We’re all here, and we have each other’s backs, always have, and we always will.” Percy said to them both. “We’re Weasley’s and we’re strong. And we can do anything we put our minds to, right Mum?” Percy asked, hoping that their mother was going to reply that he was right. 

Molly nodded to her son and smiled softly to both of her children. “Percy’s right, Ginny, we’re Weasleys and we stick together through thick and thin.” she said. “We’re strong and we’re going to be okay in the end. We have to be.” 

Percy smiled towards his mother, knowing that he did just the right thing, in this case, and he was very glad for it. Very glad, indeed. 

“But…” Ginny said, still crying, sniffling as she looked up at her big brother and their mum. 

“No buts…” Percy said, wiping away the tears first on his own face and then his little sister’s too. “Remember who we are, we are Weasleys, and it doesn’t matter how many of us there are, OR where we are, because we’re ALWAYS there for each other. We won’t ever stop. For always and forever.” he added to his little sister. 

“Always?” Ginny replied softly, tears still streaming down from the corners of her eyes, as she sniffled in an attempt to try to calm herself down. 

“Yes, always.” Percy said to his sister, turning towards his Mum for a moment, before quickly setting his eyes back onto Ginny. “You are older now Gin, and you KNOW that I’m not joking with you, right?” 

Ginny nodded her head, and sighed softly, still determined to wipe the tears from her face, despite the fact that they still fell from the corners of her eyes. “I… I know, but…” 

“No buts, Gin, none.” Molly looked at her daughter. “You know he’s right, and you know our family is strong. We’re fighters.” the ginger haired mum told her youngest child and only daughter. “None of us are happy, we’re all feeling the loss, but at the same time, none of us is alone, you hear?” she added, taking her two children closer to her, pulling them as close as they could get to her. Molly decided that not only did they need her, but she needed them too. 

And she always would. 

That is what family is for. 

Always.


	7. “BROKEN”

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny knows they're all broken, her whole family, and others who both fought and lost loved ones in the Battle of Hogwarts the year before, and she's fighting her mother about going back to school, but is forced to do so anyway. She doesn't feel comfortable with it, but she does it anyway, just as her mother told her. 
> 
> Even though she doesn't feel right doing it.
> 
> But in doing so, she finds that she isn't alone, even away from her family. Because she isn't alone in her pains, and her friend Anna shows her that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is from September - Broken

We were broken. We knew we were. 

Each of us had looked inside of ourselves, and we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that we were broken. 

You see, my family and I, we learned this the hard way when my brother was killed. It hit each of us hard, yes, but it hit George worst of all. Fred was his twin brother, after all. And as I watched over my brother, despite being younger than him, and the youngest in the family too, I still couldn’t stand to see him as broken as he was. 

It was almost like he was a shell of who he used to be, and it scared me half to death. He barely spoke, not even to the rest of the family. He stopped going in to Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, and sort of left Ron and their workers on their own in it. This was hard on Ron too because he just, well, he wasn’t all there either, and to be somewhere that Fred had started with George, well, neither of my brothers were dealing with it well. 

I tried to help, I did, but there was only so much that I could do. After all, I was still in school myself, even if I didn’t want to be. Part of me just didn’t want to go back there after that day, but even my Mum and Dad told me that it was better to finish my education. I wanted to believe them, I really did. But Fred and George hadn’t finished school and they’d even started a business that was doing well! So why did I need to go back to school?

Well, they had done, anyway… 

I looked down at my feet and sighed. Maybe they didn’t go back to school and started Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, but now it was almost like everything was all sorts of different. 

I looked up at Mum, and sighed. “Do I… HAVE to go back to school? I… I really don’t want to, it doesn’t feel right to go back behind those walls. Where… Where F… Fred…”

Mum sighed and frowned. “I… I know, but Ginny, finish your education and you’ll be able to do anything you set your mind to. You only have one year left, you can do this. Ginevra, you can do anything.” 

But I didn’t feel like I could do anything. I didn’t even want to try to do anything. 

Because all I wanted was to bring my brother back to life, and I couldn’t do that. It hurt. 

EVERYTHING HURT. 

But there wasn’t anything I could do to fix that. And I knew it there and then. Even if I couldn’t fix it. 

And I couldn’t. 

“Do I HAVE to?” I asked. I was begging, without using the words that showed it. I really didn’t want to go, I didn’t. But I had no idea how to make it so that I didn’t have to go back there. 

“Ginny…” Mum said, sighing, and shaking her head at me. 

“I’m sorry, I just… I just really don’t feel comfortable with all this, it just feels wrong to go back there when the last time I was there was…” I said, sighing. I didn’t want to go back, not at all, but it seemed as if I wasn’t going to be given a choice in this. 

“Ginny, you have to go back. I’ll not have my children scared to go back to school because of what happened there. You have every right to be angry at me for it, and I wouldn’t blame you if you were, but you’re going back and you’re graduating. Understood?” Mum said. 

I sighed and looked down at my feet. I wasn’t happy about it, but I understood why she was telling me that I had to go back. And she had a point too, I WAS scared to go back, to walk the corridors that Fred, Tonks, Remus and all the others who were killed that night had walked. 

I didn’t think that it was right, but I also knew that I didn’t have a choice in the matter. I knew once my Mum had made a decision, there was nothing that could change her mind. And so I, as I had done years before, packed my trunk and got ready to go back to school. I felt like I was sort of walking in a haze, trying to walk through deep water and all of the things like that. It was a strange feeling, and well, though I was feeling that way to start off with, it wasn’t nearly as bad as this when I was back at home. 

The only one that came with me to the train was Percy, and as I looked up at my older brother, I bit down on my lower lip, quite hard and it was almost like he understood what I was thinking, even though I hadn’t said a word. 

“I know.” Percy said to me. “It’s going to be hard, but Mum is right, you have to finish school. But listen, if you ever need me, or any of us, while you’re there, you know you can always write to us, and I can meet you in Hogsmeade or just send you packages or love of any and all kinds…” 

I looked at him as he offered those things and I nodded my head slowly and quite literally buried myself into him. Sure, I wasn’t exactly small for my age, but compared to my bigger brothers, I was, and so it sort of looked like I had become a part of Percy, there on the Platform. “Perce… I just…” 

“I know.” was all Percy had to say to me. “It isn’t going to be easy for you to walk where they walked, but maybe try to use it as a way to overcome?” he suggested. 

“Overcome? How?” I asked him. 

“I think that maybe you are the strongest one of us there is, apart from Mum. And that it might be a really good thing for you to go back to school, to actually walk where they all walked, to see where they were killed… I think that you have to see it in order to grow, in order to be the best that you can be.” Percy told me. 

I didn’t know what to say to that, in fact, I literally have no idea what to say to that still, to this day. Because as soon as he spoke his last word, the sound of the train whistle blasted out over everything else. “I…. I love you, Perce. I love you very much, and please, give my love and hugs to everyone when you get home, okay?” I asked. 

Percy nodded his head and quickly lifted my trunk into the train and helped me up, even though I didn’t need help to get up onto the train in reality. I think my brother just knew that I didn’t really want to let go of him… 

And he’d have been right… 

I got onto the train with the others, and clung to my trunk, and a piece of paper that Percy had shoved into my hand as he helped me up into the train. My friends looked at me and it was even like they were looking at me differently. I didn’t like how I felt when they looked at me that way but I tried to ignore the feeling, I tried to forget it and eventually it was okay again, in that regard. They understood what happened last year, and well, they’d even stuck by me, making sure I wasn’t ever alone if I didn’t want to be. As the first day rolled on, while we sat on the train, my friends chattered around me, while I sat in silence. I didn’t want to speak, I didn’t need to. 

I had no words.

I think they knew that though, because they didn’t make me talk, and sort of left me be. But finally, as we were about to pull into the Train Station at Hogsmeade, one of my friends pulled me aside and asked if I was okay or if I wanted her to stay with me and only then did I speak my first words since I’d left Percy’s side at Platform 9¾ to board the Hogwarts Express. “No, I’m not okay, and yes, please stay with me. I don’t want to be alone.” 

Anna nodded her head towards me, and turned to the others and asked them to take our trunks, that she was going to walk with me. 

It was a quiet walk to the Carriages, and as we arrived together, I saw the Thestrals, and though my eyes had been dry all that time on the train, they were getting damp with tears now… 

Anna didn’t speak, and neither did I, but we didn’t have to. She understood how I felt, I knew it. It took me a few days of walking the corridors in silence, wading through the air, but as soon as it hit me, it hit me like a ton of bricks. 

I wasn’t alone in losing someone back in May… 

Anna’s sister was three stretchers from Fred… 

As the days passed, things didn’t change. Sure, I slept at night, got dressed and ate, went to classes, like any normal person, but I didn’t feel human, not at all. It felt like I was trying to breathe underwater, like I was choking on it…

Honestly, my friends even said this to me, I was literally swimming through air. Most of the time it was like I couldn’t even breathe. You know what I mean? I was walking the steps my family had all taken, including my big brother, and well, Tonks and Remus, and so many others that died that day. It’s just… It’s weird, you know?

My family thinks I can do this, they think I’m strong, and maybe I am brave, maybe I am a Gryffindor, and maybe I am a Weasley, but I don’t think I’m strong enough for this.

I want to go home. 

And maybe I’m a seventh year, but I. Want. My. Mumma.


	8. DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny finds that she can't sleep since she's arrived at school and writes to Percy for help. As she's waiting for the reply letter, her friend Anna finds her and they have a conversation which helps them to both see that they aren't alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For OCTOBER: DREAMS AND NIGHTMARES

Ginny couldn’t help it. She tried hard to sleep, each night, but at the same time, each night, the ginger seventh year fell into the same nightmares. At first, it stopped before it got too bad for her to handle on her own. But after a few days, she couldn’t do it anymore. 

Despite trying hard to. 

So one morning, about a week into school, she pulled out a pack of parchment and her quill before she started writing. 

Dear Percy,   
I know you said that I could write you if I needed anything, and well, I tried, I tried REAL hard, but I can’t manage to sleep. Not at all. I have a REALLY hard time falling asleep and when I finally FALL asleep, I get awoken, by this…. HORRIBLE nightmare. I, I know I wasn’t there when it happened, but, well, I can’t stop SEEING it! I need these nightmares to stop. PLEASE. Help me…  
Your Ginny

Once she had finished the y in her name, she folded it up and sighed as she looked down at it a moment before getting up from her four poster bed and began moving slowly towards the door to her room. Ginny walked from the dorms towards the Common Room and then out it and down the steps of the Gryffindor Tower, and walked all the way to the Owlery to send the letter to her brother. 

She didn’t know how long it would take for the owl to come back with his reply, but she hoped beyond all hopes that it was going to be before bed that night, because now she was so tired that she was becoming more of an angry cry baby than ever before and she didn’t like it one bit. 

Ginny paced the Owlery for the next few hours, thanking all of the gods in the whole world that she didn’t have classes that day. She didn’t know how she’d have managed if she HAD classes. She was pretty sure that she’d sleep through it, and she was nearly 100 percent positive that if she wasn’t pacing she’d fall into a fitful sleep full of the nightmares that she didn’t ever want to have again. 

As Ginny paced, someone walked up the stairs to the Owlery, but she didn’t even hear them. They spoke, but she didn’t hear them. They spoke again, and she finally heard them. She shook her head quickly to try hard to bring herself back into reality. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you…” she said softly, as she turned to look up at who was speaking to her. 

“It’s okay, Gin, I, well, I sort of had a feeling you’d be up here…” Anna said. 

Ginny saw her friend and started to cry, and Anna nodded, crying softly as well. The pair had both lost a loved one back in May, and though they weren’t the only ones who had, they were the ones who could understand each other the best. They were the same age, their siblings were the same age, and they both came from large, loving families. 

“It’s okay, you can cry Ginny, we both can. We all can… We’ve seen things in our lives that we shouldn’t have had to see. Dealt with things that we shouldn’t have had to deal with… But we did, and we’re going to be okay, somehow. I don’t know how, but you’ll see, we’re going to be okay in the long run. We will. You know why?” Anna asked. 

“Why?” Ginny replied. 

“Because my sister and your brother would wish it, and so we will. I know it, and you know it too.” Anna added, taking Ginny into a strong hug, despite the fact that both of them were trembling. 

Ginny listened to Anna’s words and nodded, curling into her friend’s strong hug. She knew both of them were upset, and that it was okay to be upset. But that didn’t help her to feel any better. She was supposed to be strong, she was supposed to be a Weasley! 

But then, she couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that for some reason, that she couldn’t sleep… 

Not without nightmares… 

To her, that wasn’t strong, and it was starting to really upset her… 

“Anna? I haven’t been able to sleep, not since we got back to school. Not… Not without nightmares…” Ginny told her friend, softly. 

“You too?” Anna added to her friend’s conversation. 

“Wait… you too?” Ginny asked, looking at her friend. “I… I hadn’t heard you awake in your bed, I hadn’t even noticed your breathing change…” 

“And I didn’t notice yours either, but maybe we weren’t meant to notice… Maybe we were supposed to think we were all on our own?” Anna said. 

“Wait, you think we were meant to think we were all alone?” Ginny asked Anna softly. “But… Why?” Ginny wasn’t understanding why anyone would want to do that, and then it hit her like a ton of bricks to the face. This wasn’t just any person who’d targeted the school, and students and adults within it’s walls. This was Voldemort. And he wasn’t likely to care about anyone other than himself… 

“Gin, I wish I knew… I really do, but at the same time, I’m not sure I want to know either.” Anna said with a soft sigh. “But we aren’t alone, not anymore, okay? We have each other.” 

Ginny nodded her head slowly. “Yeah, we aren’t alone, not anymore… We have each other. We always have each other, and we always will.” 

Anna nodded her head and she turned towards the window when she heard the sound of an owl. “Is that your brother’s owl?” she asked. 

Ginny turned too and she actually smiled a small smile towards Anna. “Yes, that’s Percy’s owl… He’s got Perce’s reply to my letter. I told him about my nightmares and that I can’t sleep well at all anymore, maybe he’s got something that can help us?” Ginny certainly hoped that was the case… 

Because she couldn’t handle this not sleeping thing for much longer. 

That was for sure. 

“Shall I open it?” Ginny asked, and Anna nodded her head. The red haired witch sighed softly and opened up the envelope to read Percy’s small scrolling handwriting. 

“Dear Ginny,   
Of course you can write to me about anything, and any time! You’re my sister, Gin… And I’m here for you! 

You can’t sleep? You’re getting nightmares? They’re, well, they’re about that night, aren’t they? You see Fred and how he… Gin, I don’t know what to say to you about that, I don’t want you to have to see what I saw, I don’t want you to feel the way I did… I need to find some way, I don’t know what way, but I will make it stop. I’m going to talk to Hermione, maybe she’s got some sort of an idea of what we could do, and I think that maybe you should speak to Professor McGonagall, tell her what you wrote to me, I think you should tell her everything, that way someone’s there for you when we are far away and another nightmare happens. 

But Gin, you should know that you aren’t alone either, I get them too. And it hurts, I know it does, that’s why I want you to have at least her knowing… Promise me you’ll talk to her? And she’s a member of the Order too, that’ll help, just… maybe tell her not to tell Mum and Dad just yet… I think we should tell them in person, together. 

How about I set up a Hogsmeade date for the family? On your next weekend and I’ll get Mum and Dad there? We can go to the park, how’s that sound? Just the four of us? Unless George or Ron want to come. Charlie and Bill are busy with the Order, and I’ll talk to them about this too, in case they have ideas. 

And Gin? Maybe you should see if your friend Anna is okay? Her sister was not far from Fred… Maybe she’s someone you can turn to also?

Write back and let me know what you think about everything, and talk to Professor McGonagall and Anna and yeah… I’ll see you soon, okay? Write back…  
Love,   
Percy” 

Ginny had read out the letter, tearing up and turning towards Anna. “Well… Uhm… He really is a smart arse, isn’t he?” the ginger witch said, trying to make something seem funny through all the darkness and pain. 

“Yes, it’s almost like… It’s almost like he already knew… But he couldn’t, could he?” Anna asked, curiously. 

“I… I dunno, unless, unless maybe he’s having the same nightmares and he saw us in them? Maybe there’s a way?” Ginny said, unsure of anything at that moment. “I think we need to go see Professor McGonagall… I think he’s for sure right about that…” 

Anna nodded her head in agreement. “Yes, I think so too. I think it’s very important for us to do that, to tell her what we’ve been going through, you know?” Anna took in a slow, deep breath, and let it out even slower still. She was scared, and worried too, but it wasn’t too bad an idea to talk to their professor and Head of House. 

“I think we have to do it right now, too. Right now…” Ginny added, nervously. She was fearful of it, because she didn’t want to be thought of as weak, she never wanted that, especially not to someone in the Order…

She felt weak and she hated it more than almost anything else in the world…

“Let’s go see Professor McGonagall…” Ginny repeated, holding out her hand to Anna, knowing that they HAD to go see their head of house. They didn’t have any other choice. 

Anna nodded her head too and took Ginny’s offered hand and led the way out of the room.


	9. "Deathcember"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ginny and her best friend Anna face something worse than either of them ever expected, but Ginny steps up and shows Anna that she isn't alone. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For December "Deathcember"

A few months passed, and Anna and Ginny got closer and closer. They called each other best friends and though others tried to separate the two, it never worked. 

And that was a good thing. A VERY good thing. Because the truth was, both of their lives were about to change, again. This time, Anna’s life would be completely turned upside down, though she didn’t know it yet.

One morning, in the early hours of the chilly December morning, before the sun even rose fully, an owl flew in through their open dorm room window, and landed right on the finally sleeping Anna. The owl pecked at her, and as Ginny watched this action from her bed, she was suddenly filled with a feeling of dread that refused to leave her heart and mind, despite any thoughts the ginger witch tried in order to get rid of it. 

“Anna, wake up… Isn’t… Isn’t that your, uh, isn’t that your owl?” Ginny asked, getting out of her four poster bed and walking towards her best friend’s. 

Anna moaned and opened her eyes a little. “It’s too early… The sun isn’t even awake yet…” 

“Anna… Your owl…” Ginny added, worriedly. “Something’s wrong… Or they wouldn’t message this early…” 

Anna sat up quickly in bed, eyes wide open now as she ripped the letter out of the owl’s outstretched leg and tore it open. Her already pale face turned paler as she read the words, starting to cry, at first quietly, and then starting to sob. Ginny watched for only a moment before going to sit on the bed next to her best friend. 

“Hey… Anna… What is it?” Ginny asked, her voice in a whispered tone. She was scared, and she was worried. She didn’t know what had happened, but it wasn’t good. 

Anna couldn’t speak, but she could hand the letter to her friend, so Ginny could read it on her own. And what Ginny read made her heart pound inside of her chest. Not only had Anna lost her sister a few months before, but now, now she’d lost her parents too, and she was an orphan. 

“Anna… I…” Ginny said, unsure what to say. ‘Shit…’ The ginger witch thought to herself, though she didn’t say it out loud. It took her a few minutes to come up with something to say to Anna, so they sat there in silence for a time, the only sounds were the sobs coming from Anna. Ginny curled her arms around Anna, protectively, like a sister could and with tears falling softly from the corners of her eyes, whispered, “You’ll come live with us, we’ll be like a family, you don’t have to worry about that. My Mum and Dad would agree, I know it…” 

Anna looked up at her, and with heavy tears in her eyes, Anna forced out with a trembling voice, “R… R… really?” 

“Really. That’s a promise. You’ll share my room and we’ll get to do everything together.” Ginny added, looking right into Anna’s eyes. “I’ll write to Mum and Dad and they’ll get everything set up, legally and everything. You’ll see, it’ll be fine, you’ll be with us.”

“A… Are you sure?” Anna trembled out. 

Ginny nodded. “Surer of this than of anything else lately.” The ginger witch knew that her parents would agree with her, that they would be more than happy to take care of Anna, because that was who they were as people, that’s what the Weasley family did best of all, take care of other people. “You’ll see, they’ll take care of you, just like you’re one of us…” 

“I… I love y… your p… p… parents…” Anna said, trembling still, but clearly calming down just a bit. 

“And they love you, just like they love Harry and Hermione… You’ll see, it’ll be okay…” Ginny added. “You’re allowed to hurt, you’re allowed to grieve, just know that you’re not alone, okay? You’ll never be alone…” Ginevra looked into Anna’s bright red eyes and blotchy face, and spoke again, softly, “You have me.” Ginny hugged her tightly and tried harder than ever before to keep herself calm. “I promise.” 

Anna needed her to be calm. 

Period. 

And that was just what she was going to do. Ginny was determined to stay calm for her best friend, she was determined to be there for her, through thick and thin. They’d both been there for each other all this time and she wasn’t going to stop now. Especially not since this was the worst thing that could happen for her best friend. 

“It hurts now, I know, but you won’t ever be alone… Never again…” Ginny added, holding Anna tighter, to show that she’d meant her words. Ginny didn’t know what else to say, and she was feeling quite repetitive now, but she wanted Anna to know that she meant it, that she wasn’t alone. 

Never alone. 

At least not while Ginny was alive.

**Author's Note:**

> This will have more chapters to come, some will be worked for the 12 Month FanFiction Challenge, some will not, but follow the Weasley's, Harry, Hermione and others, to see how life goes on, despite pain, despite fear, despite tears.


End file.
